The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) has created 145 full and part-time jobs since its immediate post-privatisation downsizing, its chief executive adding that another 200 employees - some of whom had been waiting 10 years - were either promoted or “reclassified” within the company.

Geoff Houston said the long wait many had to endure on their promotions exposed “the big cultural challenge” at BTC, where important decisions had been avoided or postponed for long durations when it was 100 per cent government owned.

And the BTC chief executive also pledged that BTC’s retail franchise programme, and roll-out, was likely to create another 200 jobs over the next year.

BTC is targeting the opening of 30-35 stores owned by Bahamian entrepreneurs during 2013, with the company itself looking to invest $5-$6 million in expanding those it will own to 12.

And Mr Houston also implicitly criticised BTC’s pre-privatisation efforts to roll-out its Next Generation Network (NGN). Under government ownership, BTC had invested $50 million in the effort, but the privatised carrier is having to spend a further $25-$30 million after redesigning the network, changing the supplier and doing all manner of modifications.

And, while BTC had “no immediate plans”, and was “still reviewing all our brand options”, Mr Houston said he “anticipated some changes next year” - although he would not commit to saying Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) would introduce its Caribbean brand, LIME, in the Bahamas.

Noting that around 470 staff left BTC as part of the post-privatisation Voluntary Separation Package (VSEP) exercise, Mr Houston told Tribune Business: “As part of the restructuring, 200 existing employees go reclassified or promoted.

“Some of those reclassifications were outstanding for 10 years. That’s a part of the big cultural challenge at BTC, where there was a lack of big changes in the company for a long period of time.”

Subsequent to the VSEP exercise, Mr Houston said BTC had hired 45 full-time and 100 part-time/temporary workers, who were “all 100 per cent Bahamian”.

Dismissing rumours that BTC was bringing in foreign workers without the requisite work permits as “absolutely not true”, Mr Houston said the company was fully compliant with Immigration requirements. He added, though, that given the technology-based nature of the business, specialists working with CWC and its suppliers would need to be brought in from time to time.

BTC’s total workforce now numbered 800, and Mr Houston said: “It’ll probably settle around there for a while.”

As for BTC’s retail store roll-out, the chief executive said it would take two months to ‘bed in’ its first franchise, located in Grand Bahama, which it was using as a ‘test’ in terms of integrating it with the company’s own network.

BTC was aiming to sign contracts with more Bahamian franchise entrepreneurs pre-Christmas, and start the roll-out of more such stores come January 2013.

“We’re gunning to have 30-35 [franchise stores] opened over the course of next year. It could create up to 200 new jobs,” Mr Houston told Tribune Business.

“We ourselves don’t expect to go beyond 12. That will probably be the maximum number of flagships we own, and will spend $5-$6 million to refurbish them all.”

Mr Houston added that BTC had already transferred 16,000 out of 127,000 phone and Internet lines to its NGN network, with the remainder set to all be transitioned by end-summer 2013. Exuma and Cat Island were already completed.

Describing the NGN network as one of BTC’s most complicated challenges, but little talked about, Mr Houston said 50-60 staff were working on its deployment/transition full-time.

“We’ve redesigned the network, brought in an alternative supplier, deployed alternative switches and worked out the customer experience,” Mr Houston said.

He added that the Government’s determination to regain a 51 per cent majority interest in BTC was not impacting operations.

And Mr Houston was optimistic that the ongoing row over Elizabeth Thompson’s dismissal would not harm BTC’s relationship with its two trade unions, while acknowledging that a trade dispute had been filed and talks were ongoing at the Department of Labour.